My first Wallace and Gromit fic. Enjoy.
Oblivious.
While he loved him, there was never any question of that Gromit hated it whenever Wallace became oblivious. The sad part was it happened more times than the dog would prefer. It never ended well, and he seemed to be the only one who noticed whenever something was wrong. Wallace didn't mean to be oblivious in a malicious way, it was just frustrating whenever he had to pick up the pieces.
As he looked at his old friend who was busily stirring his tea, Gromit could see Wallace was deeply troubled and upset by what they'd learnt. For a moment Gromit took the time to reflect on what had just happened.
Wallace was a brilliant engineer and inventor, although Gromit did have to admit some of his push-button inventions and ideas needed to be properly developed before Wallace even built them - while there was nothing really wrong with some of the ideas, Gromit was usually left asking himself is this a good idea or what? - he knew that Wallace truly did not want to be a bachelor for the rest of his life.
The problem was it wasn't due to a lack of trying, Wallace had come close to having a long-term relationship with a woman. Wendolene was perhaps the best out of the three women Wallace had ever shown any kind of interest in. While Gromit had hated her for just turning the other cheek when her Preston went insane and malfunctioned - apparently Wendolene's inventor father had not really made the robot's computer brain properly and the robot became prone to malfunctions but since Preston had framed Gromit and he'd been subjected to humiliating trials and accusations which lasted a good couple of weeks before that brief spell in prison, Gromit's sympathy was limited - she had been good for Wallace in many ways and she had been a tremendous help when she'd witnessed Preston almost going for Shaun. Gromit wished Wallace and her would reconcile, but he doubted it would happen since Wallace gave her up because she couldn't stand cheese!
Truthfully Gromit believed Wallace had been really selfish there. Just because Wendolene didn't like cheese didn't necessarily mean they couldn't have continued to have a relationship, and Gromit had watched the heartbreak on both of their faces, but he felt more for Wendolene than Wallace.
Lady Tottington, or 'Totty,' as she had liked being referred to had also been the recipient of Wallace's affection but she saw him as more of a friend even if she'd shown more compassion and kindness than the panicking mob the townsfolk had become during that mess when Wallace accidentally became the were-rabbit!
But the recent mess with Piella Bakewell had been the most memorable of the lot.
Occasionally Wallace and Gromit set up little businesses primarily to gain a living but also so Wallace could fund some of his invention projects. He had done it with the window cleaning business, where he had been testing new cleaning implements so he could advertise them and then patent them, just as he'd patented the moon rocket. For the pest control business on the run-up to the vegetable competition (Gromit hoped to enter the next one with more than a single marrow), Wallace had been testing new traps that were as nonlethal as possible. The Bun-Vac, for instance, had dozens of applications.
The bakery business was purely for finance. Wallace wanted a good amount of cash coming in for a rainy day in the future. But a shadow had been hanging over them. A serial killer was striking down the local bakers, and as the killings had gone on Gromit had become increasingly worried about the murders. Wallace was worried as well, despite his optimism. …Wallace had been worried, especially as more and more bakers, especially the well known and famous ones like Bob the Baker were found battered to death or murdered in nasty ways.
The police were out of clues, but the killer was too clever for that. Come to that, Gromit had to ask himself how Piella had done it. The woman was quite raucous and loud and she was quite distinctive, but as he thought about it Gromit realised to himself Piella had actually kept close to Wallace at home. They'd rarely gone out together and now Gromit had a good idea why. Piella might have been arrogant and dangerous but she was not stupid. She would have known if she had gone out with Wallace, the police would have dug deeper and her relationship with the bakers would have come out, and she would not have wanted that. The police would have only needed to have found the mannequins in Piella's bedroom at her house and the photographs in her album (before she'd burnt it) but since the police had closed the investigation now Piella was dead and they had Wallace's testimony and his statement about what the serial killer had been doing, the story of Piella Bakewell was well and truly over.
Good riddance.
Gromit had never really liked or trusted the woman, he had known there was something off about the brakes of her bicycle. They had seemed perfectly normal and fine to him when he'd examined them. But of course, Wallace had been oblivious, he had been overwhelmed he was meeting the so-called 'Bake O Lite' girl. Gromit personally couldn't understand what was so great about her, and as for that spiel from Wallace about how she was 'the girl of his dreams,' if he'd had the means and ability then he would laugh his head off.
He had only started fantasising about the Bake O Lite girl when they'd begun the bakery business. Before that Gromit had never even seen a single picture or poster of a younger Piella sitting on the balloon saddle. Unfortunately, it hadn't stopped. Wallace had become obsessive about Piella whenever the woman had turned up, completely oblivious as the woman began to take over their lives. As usual, it was up to Gromit to discover the truth although he hadn't suspected she was the serial killer.
He had thought Piella Bakewell was obnoxious, overbearing, simpering and annoying. But when he had walked into her bedroom and found those mannequins… Gromit had begun to ask questions about her. When he'd found the album full of pictures of Piella and those bakers, he'd realised the truth and the danger Wallace was in. He had tried to protect and defend Wallace, and he wished he'd found a better way than checking soups for poisons, confiscating anything metal that could be used as a knife, but what frustrated him the most was how no matter how many hints there were Wallace simply didn't learn.
Wallace had come dangerously close to being killed, all by a woman whom he was fond of. And he hadn't noticed. What made it scarier was there were moments where Piella had come close.